Foot treadle device



y 1959 L. WASHINGTON, JR 2,893,284

FOOT TREADLE DEVICE,

Filed June 28. 1956 IN V EN TOR. LAMAR WASHINGTON JR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent FOOT TREADLE DEVICE Lamar Washington, In,Natick, Mass.

Application June 28, 1956, Serial No. 594,594 2 Claims. 01. 84-422) thecenter behindand in other instances in front of the.

treadle platform. As a result it is necessary not only to utilize themuscles of the leg to lift or depress the toe or heel of the foot butalso to move the entire leg in order to rock the treadle. Since the leghas appreciable weight, continued use of the muscles to lift or depressthe leg over an extended period of time causes fatigue.

The foot treadle apparatus of the present invention makes it unnecessaryto raise and lower the leg to operate the pedal. Instead, theconstruction of the present invention makes it possible to utilize onlythe natural rocking motion of the foot about the ankle. Since no part ofthe leg has to be raised and lowered the operator can rock the treadleor pedal over long periods of time without undue fatigue.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new anduseful foot treadle apparatus that operates by the natural rockingmotion of the foot, so as to make possible operation over extendedperiods of time without undue fatigue.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to providefoot treadle apparatus whose effective center of rotation is about anaxis above the treadle platform and preferably at or near the effectivepivotal center of the ankle joint of the operator.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a foottreadle especially adapted for actuating percussion instruments such asa bass drum, which will enable the drummer to actuate the beater at highspeed and with a minimum expenditure of energy.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention as embodied in afoot pedal for a bass drum,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of the drum pedal.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, partly in section and taken on the line 2-2of Fig. l.

The foot treadle apparatus comprises a base and a treadle platform 12.The base is in the form of a long narrow box having upstanding sidewalls that slope gradually downward from the front (left hand end asviewed in the drawings) to the rear. The treadle platform may likewisebe of box-like configuration having side walls that overlap the sides ofthe base, with slight space to provide operating clearance.

The treadle platform is supported on the base with the top surfacesloping at a comfortable angle for the foot of the operator, whose shoe16 is indicated in dashed outline. Instead of conventional rockingmovement about a fixed pivot, the treadle platform is mounted for bodilyrocking motion about an effective center that is substantially above thetreadle surface. In the preferred embodiment, the effective rockingcenter is caused to coin cide approximately with the pivotal center 18of the ankle joint of the operator, represented in dashed outline.

To make possible the desired treadle motion, the platform 12 is mountedon the base 10 by means of ballbearing guideways 22 and 24. Theseguideways are formed by pressing or stamping the side wall portions ofbase and treadle to form raceways for the ball bearings. These guidewayspreferably extend in an arcuate configuration in which both the forwardpair 22 and the rear pair 24 have effective centers at or close to theankle joint 18, which is substantially above the treadle platform.Accordingly, the forward guideways 22 have substantial downward slopefrom front to back, while the rear guideways 24 are more nearlyhorizontal, with actually a slight upward slope from front to rear (leftto right as viewed in Fig. 2).

The ball-bearing guideways thus not only provide a smooth, substantiallyfrictionless support for the treadle platform on the base, but inaddition they provide a means for positively guiding the platform in thedesired.

path. This path involves a rocking movement to the rear as the pedal isdepressed at the toe end, the depressed position being indicated by thedashed outline of the treadle platform. It will be seen that only asimple rocking movement of the operators foot is required, with noappreciable movement of the leg. As a result, the motion is natural anddoes not require any such effort as is involved when the pivotal centeris positioned close to the treadle, i.e., at the rear or heel end.

At the forward end of the base portion 10 is mounted a cross-shaft 30which carries the upstanding arm 32 in which the rod 34 of the beater 36is adjustably secured. The beater shaft 30 is rocked by means of ayoke-like link 38 connected to the treadle platform. At is treadle end,the link engages a pin 40 secured by screws 42 between the dependingside walls of the platform. The walls of the base are slotted in anarcuate path to provide clearance for the pin 40. The forward end of thelink is pivotally connected to the depending arm 44 on beater shaft 30so that the shaft is rocked in clockwise direction upon depressing thetoe.

To aid in controlling the action of the treadle and heater, springs 48,5t}, and 52 are provided. Tension spring 48 extends from the cross pin40 to a short upstanding arm 54 illustrated as integrally formed witharm 44 on the beater shaft 39. Tension springs 56 and 52 extend inopposite directions from the underside of the treadle platform to ananchor block as adjustably secured in longitudinal slot 58 in the baseit). By these springs the at-rest or neutral position of the treadle maybe set to suit the particular user.

The treadle of the invention is adapted to be secured to the rim of adrum to maintain the apparatus in proper relation to the drum head. Forthis purpose the treadle is provided with fixed and movable jaws 66 andt2, the movable jaw being actuated by lever 64 which rotates eccentricshaft 66 through a partial revolution to raise and lower the arms 68which extend downwardly to the jaw 62. With the jaws in open position,the treadle is brought to a position in which the rim of the drumadjacent the floor enters the opening between jaws, after which thelever 64 is rocked to clamp the jaws on the drum rim.

It is apparent that the drum treadle of the invention provides aneffective and compact device. The positioning of the beater shaft at theforward end and below the treadle platform simplifies the connectionfrom treadle to beater shaft, and at the same time permits a lowering ofthe overall height and the center of gravity. Also, the position of thebeater shaft makes it possible for the heater to strike the drum head adirect rather than a glancing blow, since the axis of rotation is itselfso close to the head. Furthermore, the position of the beater arm 32 isadjustable on the beater shaft to enable the desired position of thebeater to be obtained relative to the treadle position. When the beateris removed from the beater arm, the device is extremely compact andeasily packed. For still greater compactness, the beater arm 32 may beloosened and swung downwardly to a substantially horizontal positionalongside the treadle.

It will also be noted that the treadle mechanism is effectivelyconcealed and protected within the box-like structure of the treadle.The linkages and springs, the foot treadle guiding means, and even thebeater shaft itself are below the treadle top and for the most partwithin the box-like base. As a consequence, the pedal is characterizedby greatly improved stability over existing de vices, in spite of itscompact size, which is but little larger in plan view than the averageshoe. The novel mounting arrangement of treadle platform, in whicharcuate rocking movement of the entire treadle platform is substitutedfor conventional pivoting, has been found to provide a markedimprovement in operation, with corresponding reduction in fatigue. Therocking movement about the ankle joint as an effective center results ina natural movement of the foot so that high-speed precisely-timedactuation is readily attained. By way of comparison, actuation of theconventional pedal requires that the upper leg also be moved,oscillating about the hip joint. The mass so involved is appreciable,resulting in consequent fatigue of both the upper and lower leg muscles.In the new pedal, there is no action of raising and lowering the legthrough pivoting about the heel; instead, the rocking takes place aboutthe joint of the ankle, with only that joint involved and its relativelysmall muscles.

While the invention has been particularly described in terms of atreadle for bass drums, it is apparent that the apparatus is equallywell adapted for other treadle-operated devices to be actuated orcontrolled by the foot, such as therapeutic apparatus for exercise ofthe foot and ankle, and such forms and embodiments shall be deemed to becomprehended within the invention in accordance with the terms of theappended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A foot treadle device comprising a base, a relatively movable treadlehaving a platform on which the operators foot may be supported, andconnections between the treadle and the base for supporting the treadle,there being independent supporting connections at the heel and Gil toeends of the treadle, the connections at the heel end comprising rollingmeans below he platform for guiding the heel end of the treadle in asubstantially horizontal forward and back motion relative to the base,and the connections at the toe end of the treadle having means forguiding the toe end of the treadle in smoothly continuous inclined pathhaving a substantial vertical component of motion, and resilient meansintermediate the treadle and the base urging the heel end of theplatform forwardly and the toe end upwardly.

2. A foot treadle device for a drum, comprising a base having atransverse beater shaft adjacent the forward end, a drum beater carriedby said shaft, a relatively movable treadle having a platform on whichthe operator's foot may be supported for actuation of the treadle byrocking motion of the foot, connections between the treadle and the baseand disposed beneath the plane of the treadle platform for supportingthe treadle thereon, there being independent supporting connections atthe heel and toe ends of the treadle, the connections at the heel end ofthe treadle comprising rolling means below the treadle platform forguiding the heel end of the treadle in a substantially horizontalforward and back motion relative to the base, the connections at the toeend of the treadle having guiding means for causing the toe end of thetreadle to. move in a smoothly continuous path which slopes upwardly ina forwardly direction and downwardly in a rearward direction relative tothe base, resilient means for yieldingly positioning the treadle in aposition intermediate the limits of its guided motion relative to thebase, and connections between the treadle and the beater shaft forrocking said shaft upon actuation of the treadle along its guided path.

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